Just In Time Math Intervention

Maybe you’ve been asked to teach a middle school math intervention or RTI class or an intervention math class for high school. Maybe you’re teaching a regular math class, but so many of your students have so many gaps in their math skills that you’re not able to get through the amount of content that you need to. Maybe you’ve been given resources or maybe you’ve been given the freedom to find your own (a blessing and a curse). I’ve been right where you are and this blog post will help.

In this post I’ll be covering what “just in time” intervention really is, what the benefits are, and how to actually do it well.

Intervention math and struggling math students are my passion. I became a high school math teacher not because I have a love for math, but because I realized math is the “gate keeper” for many historically underserved students - without passing math, students can’t graduate thus creating a gate. Failing math is also the #1 reason students decide to drop out of high school. I wanted to change that. So when I started teaching high school math support and algebra 1 in South Central Los Angeles, I was pumped about the impact I could have. But boy of boy was it harder than I expected. I went on to teach intervention and Algebra 1 in East San Jose and Denver as well. And at each school I was asked to teach something different in my intervention math class. Sometimes I was asked to go back to middle school content entirely and fill in all the gaps just in case they missed it. Sometimes I was asked to teach them the same grade level content and intervene just in time. In this post I will share my personal experiences teaching intervention math and help you learn from my years of learning what works best for students who struggle with math.

Definition: The Two Math Intervention Models

Just in case intervention is the most common approach. I like to think about it like a street filled with potholes. All of the potholes are all of the skills, concepts, and standards that our students have missed before our grade level. We see our job as a just in case intervention teacher is to fill all of those potholes - to fill all of those gaps in their learning. And so we go around just filling all the gaps. If they missed this from first grade, fill it. If they missed this from third grade, fill it. If they missed this from fifth grade, fill it. The idea is that we end up with a beautifully paved street and a beautifully paved road of math education. This is often referred to as remediation only.

Just in time intervention is less common, but arguably the most effective (more on that later). I like to think of just in time intervention like a staircase and we actually start at the top of the staircase and we identify an essential content standard for our grade level (We create a different staircase for all the different essential grade level standards). You start with that grade-level standard, which acts as the top of the staircase. Then you ask yourself: For them to be able to be successful and access this grade-level content, what's maybe one step below? What's one prerequisite? What's one scaffold that I could give them? And you just work your way down the staircase until you get to their current level of understanding. This is often referred to as acceleration (a term I was uncomfortable with when I first heard it in regards to intervention - more on that in this podcast episode)

Pros and Cons to Just in Case Intervention

The Pros of Just In Case Intervention

• Done-for-you programs are easy to find: It's pretty easy to find a done-for-you just-in-case intervention program. A lot of digital programs give a diagnostic at the beginning and then they create this customized path for students to be able to get from where they are to where they need to be. It fills all the gaps that they've missed on their learning path.

• It is highly holistic: They're not going to have gaps in their learning after a just-in-case intervention approach. They're going to have all of those things filled, and so there won't be any holes in their math education.

The Cons of Just In Case Intervention

• It unintentionally communicates low expectations: This is one of the biggest cons. I believe that unintentionally and subconsciously it says to the kids, "I know you can't do grade-level math, so I'm just going to give you this worksheet or put you on this digital program to do the math that you've seen and failed, seen and failed."

• It creates an unrealistic workload: There is usually a very extensive amount of potholes and gaps that need to be filled. I believe that's pretty unrealistic for a student who has been unsuccessful in math for many, many, many years. To expect that they are just going to be on a custom learning path and fill in all those holes within a year feels very unrealistic to me.

Pros and Cons to Just in Time Intervention

The Pros of Just In Time Intervention

• It communicates high expectations: I believe you get to say to your kids, "I believe you can do grade-level content, so we're going to learn and scaffold to grade-level content in here. I am going to hold you to that expectation."

• I believe it's how you become a gatebreaker, which is something every Math Intervention teacher can become!

The Cons of Just In Time Intervention

• Students may have gaps: You aren't going to fill every single gap and prerequisite that they may have missed on their math education journey. I give this example all the time of scientific notation. If I am teaching an algebra intervention class and I'm planning for just-in-time intervention for my algebra students, they are probably not going to get a lesson on scientific notation, even though that was an essential standard in eighth grade. Nowhere on one of these just in time staircases is there really a need for scientific notation in order for them to be successful at essential algebra one grade level content. So, there are potentially gaps in some of their math educational journeys.

• It's harder to find a pre-made program: Just in time is based more on where students are at in regards to grade level math and it's hard to nail that from a pre-made program standpoint.

Which Math Intervention Model is best?

I have personally been a just in case math intervention teacher and I have personally been a just in time math intervention teacher. And having done both, I can say without a doubt that just in time intervention is so much more effective and powerful for students. It raises their motivation to levels I have never seen with a just in case approach. I was able to walk into my classroom two weeks after the school year started and say to my kids, "I believe you can do grade-level math, so we're going to do grade-level math in here," and I watched them rise to meet that expectation. At the end of the year I was able to compare the data of how my "regular kids" did on the tests versus how my intervention kids did on the tests—they got the same tests—I can tell you that my intervention kids scored just as well as, and in some cases outperformed, my "regular kids." This gave me the confidence to say just in time intervention is worth it and want to share it with the world!

Just in time intervention is what NCTM suggests in Principles to Actions, and it's the intervention model I have seen countless schools that I support to find success for their most vulnerable students.

If you want to learn my 4-step approach to applying the just in time math intervention model, you can learn more on this blog post, in my book, or in my digital PD course.

A Quick Note on Foundational Skills with Just in Time Intervention

Often teachers are hesitant to go to a just-in-time approach to intervention because they say, "Well, I'm working on these trajectories toward grade level, but my students are still struggling with the foundations. When do we fill that?"

It's not that you can't fill those foundations with just in time intervention. I just believe you need to spend the majority of your time with your students working on that staircase content towards grade level access. But you could take one day a week (if you're the intervention teacher) or do foundational skill warm ups two times a week (if you're the core teacher) that hit on those concepts instead of completely pausing grade level content to fix foundations. I have some suggestions in this blog post for how to build those foundational skills in a way that will stick.